![]() Teuber imagined Catan as a completely uninhabited island, allowing the game to distance itself from histories of colonialism and conquest. This summer, Catan Studio will release Catan Histories: Rise of the Inkas, which uses novel game mechanics to simulate the rise and fall of ancient civilizations in South America’s Andes mountain range. “The designers working on their own can get tunnel vision.” “It’s important to bring other people in and get an objective view of the game process,” said Coleman Charlton, Catan Studio’s managing editor. The German executives visit Charlottesville for “Catan Conclaves” every year.Ĭatan Studio also participates in weekly videoconferences with other Catan and Asmodee teams around the globe. When developing new products, Catan Studio collaborates with the game’s German designer, Klaus Teuber, and his family’s company, Catan GmbH. In 2007, Fenlon became CEO of Mayfair Games, overseeing the growth of the Catan brand in the English-language market, as he has continued to do with Catan Studio. But Fenlon quickly rebounded with a new business that produced “alternate reality games”- including a groundbreaking viral marketing mystery for Steven Spielberg’s film, “A.I.: Artificial Intelligence.” Iron Crown entered bankruptcy and shut down in 2000 - just before the global success of the “Lord of the Rings” films. In 1997, Iron Crown acquired Mayfair Games and the worldwide English-language publishing rights to the Settlers of Catan series. Iron Crown signed a licensing agreement with Tolkien Enterprises to make role-playing games set in J.R.R. He earned a law degree at the College of William & Mary and then returned to Charlottesville in 1982. “It’s good to be inspired by nature.”įenlon in 1980 co-founded his first game company, Iron Crown Enterprises, after graduating from the University of Virginia. “We have a lot of outdoor meetings,” Fenlon said. The team can see Monticello and other nearby mountains from their desks. The property is decorated with a small waterfall and pathways made from dark slabs of Buckingham County slate. “We like that, because we see more families than millennials at our store.”Ĭatan Studio is located behind Fenlon’s home in Charlottesville. is introducing younger kids to the game,” Rady said. Catan Jr., a modified version of the game for younger children, sold out at her store last year. ![]() Kai Rady, owner of the Shenanigans toy store in Charlottesville, said she has seen a rise in the popularity of Catan and other board games that emphasize cooperation. ![]() “We are into the idea of having lots of little victories, with everyone being in the game until the end.” “In those games, you knock out other players as you go, and the losers are out of the game entirely,” Fenlon said. Hasbro’s titles include Monopoly, Risk, Battleship and many other bestsellers.įenlon said some of Hasbro’s legacy products were designed in another era, when games were limited by “zero-sum stories.” Also last year, it was reported that Sony Pictures was working with producer Gail Katz to adapt the game into a film.Ĭatan Studio is a key part of Asmodee’s strategy to compete with Hasbro, the world’s dominant board game publisher for generations. Since its debut in 1995, Settlers of Catan and variations of the game have sold over 27 million units in 39 languages, including 1.7 million products in 2017. The first player to reach a set number of points wins. Players attempt to build roads and settlements while trading and acquiring resources, gaining “development points” as their projects grow. In the original Settlers of Catan game, those resources are brick, grain, lumber, metal ore and wool. “The game requires a common understanding of just a few words.”Ĭatan boards are composed of hexagonal tiles that represent different kinds of terrain, each yielding a natural resource. “It’s amazing to see people who might not be able to communicate in many other ways play this game with each other,” Dontanville said. ![]() The biennial Catan World Championship, held in Cologne, Germany, this November, has featured competitors from more than 40 nations. Morgan Dontanville, Catan Studio’s chief creative officer, supervises illustration and branding for Catan games and helps organize Catan competitions across the world. When Asmodee Group acquired Mayfair in 2016, Fenlon took the helm of a new entity, Catan Studio. They are a refined, fun form of interactive storytelling.”įenlon previously was CEO of Mayfair Games, which began publishing English-language Catan board games in 1996. “We are trying to build the biggest board game company in the world,” said Pete Fenlon, CEO of Catan Studio. For years, a small team in a Charlottesville home office has quietly managed the business behind Settlers of Catan - one of the most beloved board games of the 21st century.
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